US public scared into supporting military action against ISIS
Empowering Weak & OppressedCrescent International
Dhu al-Hijjah 14, 1437 2016-09-16
Daily News Analysis
In tandem with the US establishment dominated by the neo-cons, the US media has drummed up support for the latest war-mongering plans. The people have been scared into believing that there are takfiris sleeper cells in the US that pose serious danger to every American. Most Americans have been scared into supporting military aggression against countries in the Middle East.
Washington DC, Crescent-online
Tuesday September 16, 2014, 12:49 DST
Glenn Greenwald, the celebrated journalist from The Guardian who published the leaked documents of Edward Snowden and ignited a media firestorm around the world, revealed in a September 8 article that the US campaign to drum up fear and anxiety towards the takfiri group, ISIS has succeeded to such an extent that the US public is now ready to support military action against it.
He referred to a CNN poll on the subject that found “Americans are increasingly concerned that ISIS represents a direct terror threat, fearful that ISIS agents are living in the United States.” The new CNN/ORC International poll also found “Most [Americans] now support military action against the terrorist group.”
Greenwald sarcastically noted the effectiveness of the media campaign against ISIS, supplanting them in the minds of the Americans in the position formerly held by Taliban. “It’s almost certainly the case that as recently as six months ago, only a minute percentage of the American public (and probably the US media) had even heard of ISIS. Now, two brutal beheadings later, they are convinced that they are lurking in their neighborhoods, that they are a Grave and Unprecedented Threat (worse than al Qaeda!), and that military action against them is needed.” The pliability of the US public and its willingness to subscribe to the militarization of the US government in another unending conflict heralds more instability and loss of life.
Greenwald asked the public to consider whether the imperative to destroy ISIS will be any more successful than the imperative to destroy the Taliban; and noted that this is yet another excuse to wage war in the heartland of the Muslim world. “Does it ever occur to such flamboyant warriors to ask why those sorts of groups enjoy so much support, and whether yet more bombing of predominantly Muslim countries— and/or flooding the region with more weapons—will bolster rather than subvert their strength? Just consider how a one-day attack in the US, 13 years ago, united most of the American population around the country’s most extreme militarists and unleashed an orgy of collective violence that is still not close to ending. Why does anyone think that constantly bringing violence to that part of the world will have a different effect there?”
With a tidal wave of violence now sweeping the region, it will take journalists such as Glenn Greenwald to mobilize support and form a counter group of informed dissent that is capable of challenging the official discourse. However, given the media’s close ties with the US establishment, there will be few voices of reason in this unending deliberately instigated conflict.
END
